


Deep in Death

by Khi0n3



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe- Homicide Detective, Eventual Smut, Homicide Detective, M/M, Murder, Smut, Yaoi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-23
Updated: 2017-08-07
Packaged: 2017-12-30 05:24:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1014646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khi0n3/pseuds/Khi0n3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>30 years old, and Levi is a skilled Special Agent with the FBI. Yet nothing that comes across his desk is enough to spark the passion he used to feel when he first started with the Bureau 6 years ago under Special Agent in Charge, Erwin Smith. That is until the most gruesome case he has ever seen falls into his lap one cold January morning. With his new partner, a young Agent who is so green you can still smell spring on him, Levi attempts to unravel the most complicated case he's ever taken on. A case with government cover ups and implications of things even Levi can't stomach. And the key to understanding everything might lie with his new partner, and the mysterious circumstances around his mother's death.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Another Day in Misery

* * *

 

Agent Levi leaned against the brick wall of the FBI headquarters, his left foot propped up against the wall, a Starbucks latte in one hand and a freshly lit cigarette in the other. Turing his face towards the overcast sky, his warm breath fogged up the air in front of him and melted the gently drifting snowflakes. He brought the gently smouldering cigarette to his lip and took a long drag. The warm smoke filled his lungs and he could feel his heart start racing in his chest. Despite the way his heart was pounding against his rib cage, he felt instantly calmer. He held the smoke his lungs for a moment, he savoured the warmth it brought, then slowly exhaled towards the sky. The addition of cigarette smoke not really changing the smoggy quality of the air in front of him. He forcefully let out the last of the air and smoke in his lungs, the puff of smoke swirl away from his lips an letting his hand fall limp by his side. Between his yellowing first and second fingers the cigarette glowed, the only splash of colour in the grey gloom of an early January day in New York City. As he watched a yellow taxi cab drive passed on the wet pavement, he brought the white paper cup up to his lips and sipped at the still hot liquid inside. It’s bitter tasted washed over his tongue, burning it slightly. After a few more sips, he lowered his hand to ninety degrees from his body, and leaned his head back against the brick wall and closed his eyes. 

It was an indication of how awful of a day. Week. Month it had been, that he was double fisting his vices, braving the cold air. Everything that had fallen on his desk was boring. Stale. He wanted something interesting. He had joined to Bureau to get some excitement in his life. Instead, all he got was divorces gone very wrong and prostitutes stabbed for denying some drunkard sex and occasional gang violence. Instead, all he got was open and close cases and a mountain of paper work. 

With a sigh, he brought his coffee cup back up to his lips, trying to not think about the mountain of paperwork sitting on his desk back upstairs. He was just about to take a sip when something collided with him, sending his coffee cup flying from his hand. The latte sprawled across the pock marked side walk while the cup rolled away from him. For a moment, he just glared at the cup on the ground, some what in disbelief. His already shitty day was getting worse by the minute. 

“Oh gosh! I’m so sorry!” came a voice. Levi looked up from the cup to see a young boy, no more than 21, bending at the waist to chase after the cup. 

“Just leave it,” Levi growled, bringing the cigarette back up to his lips to take a long drag. The boy looked up at him, his bright green eyes locking with Levi’s. 

“I-I... I’m really sorry,” the kid repeated. 

“Don’t fucking do it again, or I’ll kick your ass,” Levi answered after slowly letting the smoke escape his lips, trying his best to stay calm. Every ounce of him wanted to grab this kid by his fancy ass jacket and give that porcelain face of his a good black eye at the vey least. He knew if he did, Erwin would put him on suspension for sure. 

The kid nodded, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed hard at the look of pure malice obviously reflecting in Levi’s eyes. 

“Now, get the fuck out of my sight,” Levi snapped, and closed his eyes, his cigarette already at his lips again. 

When he opened his eyes, the kid was gone. If he was lucky, Levi would never see him again.

...

Twenty minutes later, no more relaxed than he was when he left for his break, Levi threw the cigarette filter on the side walk, crushing it under the toe of his boot and kicking it aside. He side stepped the puddle of what was once his coffee, and pushed open the door of the precinct. 

Levi could feel his eyes growing heavy and burning as he took the elevator up to the 3rd floor. He wished he’d gone across the street to buy himself another coffee before returning to his desk, but before he had made his decision to go back downstairs the doors opened and displayed fifteen desks in three neat rows, each ladened in computers, and never silent phones behind a wall of wire. He knew if he travelled right, he would be in front of the two interrogation rooms on this floor, and if he went left, he would be in the break room with an old fridge no one bothered to clean out, and a coffee machine that only made weak coffee which tasted like dirt. Directly across from the elevator, behind the rows of desks, there was a glass wall with the blinds shuddered closed, but the dim glow of the overcast sky was still visible through them. Half way down, there was a door, and in gold letters was the name “Special Agent in Charge - Erwin Smith”. 

It wasn’t unusual for Erwin to have his blinds closed. In fact, that was the way he liked it. That was the way things usually were. To many, it was a mystery what happened beyond that door when it was closed, but not to Levi. It had never been a mystery. And that was part of the reason he had received he’d been offered a position in New York as a Field Agent. Levi threw his leather jacket over the back of his chair, and sat down behind the pile of paperwork, glaring at it in hopes that it would just do itself. 

“You know,” came a voice, that paper work isn’t going to get done any faster if you just glare at it.” Levi looked up to Oluo, a fellow agent leaning on his desk. 

“I bet it would get done faster if you did it,” Levi replied, pulling a file towards him and casually flicking it open. 

Paper work was his least favourite part of his job. He loved the trill he got from solving murders, bringing down the bad guy. Nothing gave him more of a rush. If all he had to do was find murders and terrorists, he would be happy. Unfortunately, that wasn’t all this job entailed. There was another side. A side he despised. 

Paper work.

“That would defeat the purpose,” Oluo answered with a laugh and moved back to his desk. Levi had just picked up his pen and started filling in the paperwork when his phone started to buzz on the desk. 

Zoe Hanji. 

With a sigh he picked it up. 

“This had better be good,” he growled into the mouth piece. 

“Well good morning to you too,” she said sarcastically. 

“What is it, Hanji?”

“I’ve got a good one for you,” she said, her voice a little too cheerful for announcing the discovery of a body.

“It better be fucking good, Hanji. I’m up to my eyeballs in paperwork...”

“Aw come on, Levi, you know I wouldn’t call if it wasn’t good.”

“Last time you called me, it was for a dead hooker who had been mugged.”

“Yes, but she was found strung up, upside down, on a stripper pole!”

“What is it, Hanji?” he repeated. 

“That would ruin the surprise. Trust me, you’re going to like this one.” Her excitement was so overwhelming, he could almost feel himself getting excited. “Besides. Do you want to do paper work all day, or do you want to solve a murder?” 

She knew. She knew only too well what he wanted. 

“Fuck you,” he growled. 

“See you soon?”

“Yeah, I’m just leaving now,” he replied. 

“Okay, we are at 23rd and Lex,”

Levi hung up the phone and grabbed his jacket off his chair. he was just sliding his arm into the jacket when Erwin poked his head out from the office door. 

“Levi, just the man I was looking for,”

“Sorry, Sir, not now. I’m just leaving for a crime scene.”

Erwin glance at the stack of papers on Levi’s desk and raised his eye brow skeptically. “Apparently it’s a good one,” Levi replied with a shrug. 

“It’ll only take five minutes.” When was the last time it had only taken five minutes, Levi thought to himself skeptically. “Get your ass in here, that’s an order.”

“Yes, Sir.” Levi put down his jacket and stalked towards Erwin’s office. Levi closed the door behind him and stared at the Captain with puzzlement in his eyes. His hand up at the collar of his white button down shirt. Erwin shook his head. 

“Levi, I’d like you to meet your new partner.” he said, gesturing towards the corner. Levi hadn’t realized there was a third person in the room. He turned to see a kid, no more than 21 standing there. He was tall. At least a head taller than Levi. He had wide shoulders and narrow hips. A wiry build, yet he was still muscular. His loose shirt clung to and accentuated every muscle in his arms and chest. 

Then Levi’s eyes settled on the kid’s face. Shaggy dark brown hair framed his pale, boyish face, where two bright green eyes bloomed spectacularly. 

Levi turned back to Erwin, feeling the frown on his face deepening.

“I don’t take partners,” Levi growled. 

“You do now,” Erwin answered. “His name is Eren Jaeger. He’s a recent graduate. Top of his class at Quantico. Very promising young man. I want him to learn from the best.”

He’d gotten along just fine over the last four years without a partner; his last partner hadn’t worked out so well. 

“Sir, I said I don’t take on partners”

“And I said you do,” Erwin growled, his words indicating that the consequences for disobeying him would be far graver than Levi would have ever anticipated. Levi clenched his jaw and shot the kid a look, nodding his head towards the door, indicating it was time to leave. Levi turned on his heels and left the room without even a backwards glance. The kid followed him out the door. 

“Get your shit, newbie. We’ve got a case.”

“Yes, Sir,” Eren responded, pulling his expensive jacket on over the shirt he was wearing. 

Levi marched down the hall and hit the button for the elevator. He stood with his arms crossed as he waited for it to reach their floor. 

“It’s a real pleasure to work with you,” Eren said, enthusiastically, thrusting a hand towards Levi. Levi just glared at it. 

“First rule, Erika, keep your mouth.” Levi growled and stepped onto the elevator. 

“Um, sir... my name...” Eren replied, following Levi onto the elevator. The doors closed, and Levi pinned the kid to the wall. He may have been shorter than Eren, but he still had the upper hand.

“I don’t give a fuck what your name is. You will keep your trap shut unless I ask for your opinion,” he whispered menacingly. He was up on his tip toes so he could lean in to Eren’s ear. He could smell the gentle odor of his soap, like Dove or something. He released Eren, feeling his heart rate rising. He took a step back and brushed himself off.  “I don’t take on partners. They are more trouble than they are worth. You will watch your own back. I neither want, nor expect your help. You’re in the big leagues now, newbie. Better toughen the fuck up.” With that, the elevator doors opened, and Levi stepped off, wiping his hands off on his slacks as he marched towards his car.


	2. All That's Left

* * *

It amused Levi to watch Eren out of the corner of his eye. His body rigid, sitting on the edge of his seat, completely erect, staring straight ahead and avoiding Levi’s gaze at all costs. He wasn’t sure if it was due to the fright he had given him in the elevator, or the nerves of visiting his first crime scene. Likely a combination of the two. All he knew was that toying with this newbie was going to be fun, even if this case turned out to be a complete and utter bust. 

“You’re getting me a new coffee, Newbie,” Levi growled as drove out of the precinct parking lot, letting the car shift easily into second gear as he released the clutch. “You got cash?” 

“Um.. yes! Sorry sir!” Eren turned beet red, obviously remembering the incident from earlier, and only just now realizing that the person who’s coffee he had knocked over had been Levi.  Levi drove the car down the street to the nearest Starbucks, which was usually crowded with detectives and police officers due to it’s vicinity to the precinct. He steered the car to the drive through and rolled down the tinted window on the driver’s side just as he rolled up beside the intercom. 

“Hello! Welcome to Starbucks! What can I get for you?” said a too cheery voice on the other end. 

“Yeah, I’ll have a grande half sweet latte,” he said to the intercom, then turned to Eren. “What about you, newbie?”  “Umm...” “Make it snappy, Susan!” Levi barked.

“A mocha,” Eren blurted out. 

“And a mocha for the princess. Make sure you add extra whip!” Levi said, turning back to the intercom. Eren half looked like he was going to interject, but clamped his mouth shut almost right away.

“A half sweet latte and a mocha extra whip?”

“That’s right,”

“I’ll see you at the next window,” Levi threw the car back into first gear, and pulled around to the window where the girl with heavy make up, wearing a black t shirt, a green apron, and a fake smile handed them their coffees. Eren passed her a twenty dollar bill, trying to lean across Levi careful not to make any contact with any part of Levi’s person. 

“What’s the matter, Newbie?” he whispered, “I hope you didn't shit yourself.” Eren blushed, but continued to focus on the task at hand, leaning in a little closer so he didn’t look so awkward. The closer he got, the more the air around Levi changed. Instead of the usual smell of leather and cigarettes, his nostrils were filled with the scent coming off Eren’s skin. Now that he was closer, he could smell the faith traces of the leather jacket Eren wore, and home brewed coffee. Even the musky smell of the day seemed to be settling on his skin, and yet Levi found that smelt good. It had Levi’s head swimming. It was a smell that reminded him of things he could never have, yet craved more than anything.  It wasn’t like how Erwin smelled. He just smelt of gun powered and strong, expensive aftershave. While that was a scent that sent him to different places, this was gentle and calming. It was... homely. Levi bit the inside of his cheek to distract himself from the scent. The girl handed Eren his change, and Eren relaxed back into his seat. Immediately the air cleared and Levi was able to take the coffee cup and tuck it into the cup holder by his right hand. 

What had just happened to him? 

Instead of caring, he threw the car into first gear and drove away from the Starbucks and back onto the street towards the crime scene.  It had been a few days since the last time he’d been laid. Eren’s closeness must have reminded him of that. Most people didn’t get that close. Most people knew better. 

...

Levi parked two blocks from the apartment building where the crime scene was. Ignoring Eren’s confused glances as he drove passed the horde of police cruisers, lights flashing red and blue on the street outside a twelve story apartment building laced with scaffolding. This was the most important part to a case, the walk up to the crime scene. He found that parking right out front never gave him the context he needed to understand everything. It helped him put the crime scene into a frame of reference. It helped him scope out possible locations of entry and exit where witnesses might not see. It helped him see what obstacles might have been in the perp’s way as he fled the scene. Levi had learned the hard way that not taking in every aspect of a crime scene could mean the difference between successfully solving a case, and adding another file to the pile of cold cases locked up in the Bureau’s archives. Parking the car, he slid out of the driver’s seat, his half finished latte in one hand, and the other sliding his dark sunglasses up on top of his head.

Already several NYPD cruisers lined the side walks. Uniforms patrolled the streets and put up crime scene tape to quadrant off the area immediately surrounding the entrance to a run down high rise. He knew the part of town they were in. It wasn’t the most upscale, but neither was it in a bad part of town. The vic had to have a pretty decent salary to be living here, or he had to be sharing the rent with another person. It was likely that both people had well paying jobs.  The buildings were mostly older. Late 60s at the earliest, with rickety fire escapes  and dark back alleys. Likely the murderer could have hidden in one of the alleys. If he was skilled, he would have melted into the shadows that were cast on the narrow gaps between the brick buildings even in the bright cool light of the mid January morning sun. The murderer could have scaled the fire escape to the window of his target, bypassing any door men or security cameras that might be in the lobbies of any of these apartment buildings.  

He noted a number of faces peering down at the street that they walked along from the windows of the lining apartment building. Good. He thought, with nosy neighbors like this, someone might have seen something. He knew it was a long shot. Most of the time people kept to themselves, not making note of a stranger walking down the street in the middle of the night unless they are making a commotion. But with a low traffic street such as this, the likelihood of something out of the ordinary being noticed was higher than on a busier street in a worse part of town.   

When he reached the front door of the apartment building, he noted three cameras, and a door man. If his murderer was smart, he was willing to bet that the fire escape had been the mode of entry. The elevator, and the stair well were similarly equipped with security cameras, making it even less likely that a smart murderer would have used either to reach the victim.  Levi climbed the stairs to the third floor where 20 odd individuals milled around with notebooks and cameras and a whole other assortment of equipment for specimen taking. He caught a couple of dark glances thrown his way as the NYPD officers, detectives, and CSUs saw the two agents approaching. Eren was drinking in the crime scene in silence, trying not to let his shock show in his large green eyes. 

“No, uh un, no!” Came an angry shout from the apartment door, a short detective came storming over to Levi, her silver blonde hair slightly disheveled as if she’d been running her hands through it as she thought. Her silver eyes flashed with annoyance behind her round rimmed glasses as closed the space between them.

“Good morning, Detective Brzenska,” Levi said flatly as she came to a halt, toe to toe with Levi.

]“This has nothing to do with the Bureau. Why are you even here?” Riko Brzenska growled, her nose practically touching Levi’s.

“It was flagged as a case of interest for the FBI,” Levi replied casually, averting his gaze from Riko’s. Riko threw up her hands in frustration and turned on her eek back towards the door to the apartment where the majority of the NYPD staff were milling about.

“What have we got here?” Levi asked as he followed her.  

“26 year old Caucasian male found at 0900 this morning by the Land Lady,” Riko told the agents. She paused and pointed at a woman who was sitting on the couch wrapped in a blanket speaking quietly to Riko’s partner, Hannes. “Looks like our perp came in through the window, the latch was broken. We’ve ID the vic as Marco Bodt.” Levi nodded, scanning the apartment. From the door way, he could see tables and bookshelves over turned. It looked like someone was trying to get out of the apartment fast, like someone was trying to escape and was pushing obstacles into the path of their pursuant. There was blood smear on the over turned tables, a trail of blood leading down the hall and out the door. 

Who was bleeding?

Who was being pursued?

Why?

“Alright. I want you to get uniforms to canvas the area. Go door to door to all the surrounding apartments. Find out if anyone saw anything weird last night, and get CSU to make sure they get these blood samples and send them to the lab.” Levi told Riko, who rolled her eyes dramatically and crossing her arms across her chest. Levi made his way into the apartment as Riko moved away to talk to Hannes, who had just finished his interview with the landlady. He turned the corner and the full crime scene came into view. He heard Eren take in a sharp breath as his eyes fell on the destruction before him.  Immediately, Levi knew why the FBI was getting involved with this case. Levi had rarely seen anything quite as gruesome as what was before him right now. The entire linoleum floor of the kitchen was covered with fragments of shattered glass. Blood was smeared across the counter tops. The butcher block on the counter had toppled over, knives scattered across the counter. The fridge hung open, the food inside had either fallen on the floor amid the glass or had toppled over inside the refrigerator. Then he saw Hanji hunched over the body. She looked up at the sound of the glass crunching under Levi’s boots. She smiled, pushing up her glasses with the back of her gloved hand. 

“Yo! Levi!” she said. “Who’s the kid?”

“Some newbie that Erwin dumped on me,” he replied, letting his eyes fall on the knife from the butcher’s block on the floor next to Hanji, it’s silver edge painted red with blood. 

“I bet that’s not the only thing he’s dumped on you,” Hanji replied with a sly grin, to which Levi only raised an eyebrow. It wasn’t really a secret. Rumors had been flying around since Levi joined the force six years earlier. Hanji laughed and turned back towards the body. “Make sure you’ve got a barf bag ready for the newbie.” Levi turned to Eren.

“If you throw up on my crime scene, I will make you bleed.” He told the young detective with venom in his voice. “Do you understand?” Eren nodded, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed hard. “Good.” And he knelt down on the opposite side of the body from Hanji, pulling on the blue latex gloves he kept in his pocket. 

“Don’t worry, kid,” Hanji said looking at Eren over Levi’s shoulder, “He might seem cold, but he’s really a softie.” 

“What’s the COD?” Levi asked looking down at the body. It was pretty gruesome. The body was mostly naked, wearing just a pair of boxers. The kid’s head was sitting at an awkward angle, obviously a snapped neck. Bruises had spread across his cheeks and his right eye, almost hiding the ghost of freckles that were splattered across his pale face. A couple of teeth had been knocked out. Lacerations covered his torso and his arms. Most of the wounds hadn’t bleed profusely, leading Levi to believe that hemorrhage was not the cause of death, but most likely the broken neck. “Your vic was in a pretty hefty fight, and by the look of it, he didn’t have the upper hand at all. Who ever did this knew exactly where to hit to get optimal results. Although, my guess is this kid put up quite a fight. What ultimately killed him though is the broken neck. Looks like who ever it was got behind him and snapped it. He was dead before he hit the ground.” Hanji explained, pointing out some of the lacerations that were interesting, and some bruising over his kidneys. 

“Looks like were looking at a professional,” Levi muttered, as he ran his fingers over the wounds on the kid’s arms. 

“Most likely.” Hanji agreed, nodding.

“That complicates things a little,” Levi continued, just running his hands over the bruising. 

“One of the reasons I thought you might be interested in this one,” Hanji replied, “I’m going to get him back to the lab, give him the full Hanji treatment. I’ll let you know if I find anything interesting.” Levi nodded and stood back up, doffing the gloves and throwing them away. 

“Thanks Hanji.” He replied. “Let’s go, Newbie.”

He made his way over to Hannes and Riko without turning around to see if Eren was following, but he smiled slightly at the sound of the gangly kid scrambling to his feet to follow him.

“Land Lady found our vic on the kitchen floor this morning while she was coming to talk to another tenant. She noticed that the door was open. When she got to the door, she noticed the over turned tables. Out of curiosity, she went in and found this mess.  Turns out Marco has lived here for about a year now with his boyfriend. According to the Land Lady, they’ve been great. Always pay their rent on time. Never get up to any trouble. No complaints from the neighbours. They both work full time. Never have any visitors. Marco worked for Marley Corps, a pharmaceutical and biotech company.”

“Where’s the boyfriend?” Levi asked. 

“When the Land Lady got here, Jean wasn’t here. House was empty except for Marco.”

“Have we got a hold of Next of Kin?” Levi asked. 

“Not yet, I’ve got some of my guys on it. Also, CSU found these on the kitchen counter.” He held out his hand to show Levi two syringes filled with a yellowish liquid. Levi raised his eyebrow, this was beginning to look more and more like a planned hit.  “Alright. Send those to the lab. I’m confident with what we’ll find in those syringes, but best double check. We’ll check out Marley Corp. You see if you can get a hold of his family, and the boyfriend.” “Sounds good,” Hannes nodded, his jaw clenched at taking orders from the FBI. 

“And make sure Hanji doesn’t go over board over there,” he nodded back towards the kitchen. 

“Come on, Newbie.” and with that he left the scene with Eren still on his heels.  ... Once back in the car, back in the silence where he could think, he tried to put together the pieces that he already had.  A body with signs of an obvious struggle. A planned hit on a worker at a drug company. A forced entry. A missing boyfriend. It wasn’t much to go on. Yet. 

“Good job keeping your mouth shut, Newbie,” he growled, starting up the car. 

“It was all rather shocking,” Eren admitted, finally finding his voice, a small squeak of a voice. 

“It doesn’t get any easier,” Levi answered and drove off in the direction of Marley Corp’s main offices in the downtown core.


	3. A Lot of Nothing

 

The drive to Marley Corp’s head office was mostly silent, just like the drive to the crime scene had been. Eren grip on to the edges of the leather passenger seat was turning his knuckles white. Levi smirked as he watched Eren out of the corner of his eye. Mostly he just focused his attention on the case, trying to sort through the puzzle pieces available to him at this moment. Knowing he was missing a great deal of information, he only found himself pressed up against walls no matter where he looked. 

At first he liked the missing boyfriend for the crime, but then he’d remember the window with the signs of forced entry. It didn’t make sense for the boyfriend to sneak in the window if he already had a key. 

Then again. He might have gone that way just to distract the cops. With no signs of forced entry, the attention would be directed on him. Forced entry makes it look more like a home invader. 

But then why skip out? Why leave. That only made him look more guilty. 

And then there was the planned nature of the murder to take into account. 

What were the motives?

There was the usual. Money. Affair. Reputation. 

With a sigh, and his eyes half lidded, he tried to force the thoughts of the case out of his head, silently berating himself for overthinking the situation with so few pieces of the puzzle at his disposal. Why bother creating theories without a more complete picture. All he had at this point was a dead body and a missing boy friend. No point in jumping to conclusions.

He pulled into the underground parking lot of the towering Marley Corp head office building. It’s glass windows glinted in the sun which peaked through the neighbouring buildings, each taller than the last. Once inside the dusty and damp parkade, Levi felt an immediate sensation of being trapped. Too many dark corners where people could be hiding. Too many uncertainties. He tried to ignore the way the ceiling and the walls seemed to be closing in on him as he directed the car to the first available parking space closest to the exit. 

“I don’t want to have to remind you every time to stay out of my way,” Levi growled as he closed the car door, the sharp sounds echoing through the empty underground lot. 

“Y-yes, sir!” Eren replied, springing to his feet, his face flushed. Levi rolled his eyes at Eren’s eagerness and turned on his heel towards the exit, not bothering to take a backwards glance at Eren as he locked the police cruiser remotely. He could hear the slapping of Eren’s boots on the damp pavement of the parking lot behind him as he continued onwards. 

Eren stood in silence in the elevator as it carried them towards the lobby of the building, for which Levi was thankful. Closing his eyes he tried to focus on something else. Anything else. Anything other than the small box slowly filling up with the scent of Dove soap and Leather Jackets. The space slowly getting smaller.

The door opened to bright sunlight, and Levi stepped out of the elevator quickly, releasing his breath as he did so. The elevator had released him into the lobby of the Marley Corp building, and as he would have expected the entire lobby was pristine, stainless steel and white, lit up by the numerous ceiling to floor windows that opened to New York beyond. It was exactly what he would expect from a top ranking drug company. 

He marched across the main lobby to the front desk, a young girl with blond hair and a head set clacking away at the letters on a key board with highly polished gel nails.    Pulling out his badge he slid it across the raised counter which came almost to his shoulders. 

“Special Agent Levi Ackerman,” he announced formally, “FBI. I’m here to talk to some one about one of your employees.”

The girl looked skeptically down at the badge, then back at Levi, barely able to see over the counter. He clenched his jaw and tried not to glare at her, daring her to try and refuse him. He was itching to have a reason to pull out his cuffs. Bright eyes flickered back down to the badge before she slid it back towards Levi. 

“Who can I help you find?” she asked, her voice sugary sweet in a way that seemed so fake it left a bad taste in Levi’s mouth.

“I need to talk to HR, maybe the president of the company regarding an employee that works here, goes by the name Marco Bodt.”

The girl nodded and returned her attention to the computer in front of her. Punching a few numbers and letters into the key board until she found what she was looking for. 

“Yes, hello,” she said, obviously talking into the microphone of the head set she was wearing, “I have two cops here who need to talk to you regarding a Marco Bodt?” She fell silent waiting for a response. “Mmhmm. Mmhmm. Alright. I’ll send them right up.” She pressed a button on the key board, then flicked  her eyes back to Levi. “Take the elevator to the 12th floor. Down the hall and to your right. You’ll be talking to Marloew Frewdenberg, he’s head of HR  here.” 

She gave a a fake smile, flashing her bright smile first at Levi, then at Eren who was standing at attention behind Levi. Great. He thought. Another elevator ride. 

They stepped on the elevator, Levi trying to hide the sudden intake of breath as he crossed over the threshold. He punched the 12 button on the panel and closed his eyes, ignoring the gears and electrical circuits humming somewhere above his head. 

It wasn’t that he was afraid of closed in spaces. At least he would never admit he was. It was more that they made him uncomfortable. He had no where to go, no where to hide, no where to run. He was trapped. 

He could feel the presence of the walls closing in on him. the space was getting smaller. Tighter. Deep breaths in and out, in and out. Just focus on that. Again the smell of Dove soap and leather assaulted his olfaction, but this time he found comfort in it. BING. The door opened, and he was off the elevator before Eren had even shifted from his position. 

“You must be the cop,” the guy leaning back in the chair behind the desk said as Levi entered the room. His voice was nasally, and irritating. The plaque on the desk Marlowe Frewdenberg. Looks like they found the right guy.

“Special Agent Levi Ackerman. I’m here investigating the murder of one of your employees,” Levi growled, flashing his badge at the the guy. He watched as the colour drained from Marlowe’s face. He straightened up in his chair, and cleared his throat. 

“Murder?” he asked, his voice tight. “You don’t think…”

“Nothing like that, yet,” Levi assured him, “Just trying to fill in some blanks.”

“O-of course,” Marlowe answered, “what can I help you with?”

“Marco Bodt?” Levi asked. 

“Marco! Sweet kid! He’s dead?” Levi could swear that Marlowe’s face had just turned a nasty shade of grey. “He’s been with the company 5 years now. Worked as a chemical engineer. Never had such a bright mind. We were expecting big things from him.” Marlowe sounded washed out, like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. 

“So you’d say that he had a pretty good work life,” Levi asked. 

“I didn’t know him personally,” Marlowe admitted, “but I’ve heard fantastic things about him. You’re going to want to talk to his supervisor to get a better idea of what his work life was like.”

“So as far as you know, there were no issues with him.”

“Nothing that got reported in any case.” Marlowe answered. 

 

“Who was his supervisor? I’d like to get in touch with them.”

 

“Keith Shadis, He works out of the lab in NYU,”

 

“Alright. Thanks for your time.” Levi replied, nodding at the door to indicate to Eren that it was time to leave. They had everything they were going to get. A few more pieces. Nothing that would make a huge difference in the long term, but at least he had a better idea of who this Marco was. 

 

They took the elevator back to the parking garage, Levi ignored Eren’s now curious glances and the sharp intakes of breath and the obvious change in his carriage as soon as the doors closed. As soon as the cruiser was back out on the sun light streets of New York, Levi felt his phone buzz on his hip. 

 

“Levi,” he said into the phone. 

 

“Hey,” it was Riko, “No luck on the boyfriend, we are putting out an APB on him, see if we can get any information on him. As for family, looks like our vic was mixed up in foster care for most of his life. We are running him through the system to see if we can figure out if he was close to anyone.” 

 

“Alright. Thanks for the upda…” 

 

“That’s not all,” Riko interrupted, “CSU found his cell phone under the bed, among some used condoms.”

 

“That’s nice, I assume they are running the condoms for DNA and finger prints?”

 

“Obviously. Tech also got into the phone, they were able to pull his calendar from the phone.”

 

“Anything interesting?”

 

“Not really. We got a few things like: J leaves on the 12th and another entry for J returns a week later. I assume that might be the boyfriend. I’ve also got an appointment with Connie yesterday around 1.”

 

“Any idea who this Connie might be?” Levi asked. 

 

“Not yet.” Gunter admitted. 

 

“Alright. Good work. Keep looking for any foster siblings or family members he might have been close with. See if you can figure out who this Connie is.” Levi answered. 

 

Levi heard the phone line click and realized that the detective had hung up on him. Levi threw the phone in the cup holder and returned his attention to the road, directing them towards NYU. 

 

…

The NYU campus was full of students lugging around heavy textbooks and grim faces, clearly washed out from the semester’s stress. Navigating the campus took some effort, but eventually they found their way to the chemical engineering labs. Levi pushed open a door to a room with a few people hunched over microscopes with heavy volumes of textbooks propped open at their sides and note books filled with untidy scribbles of complex equations whose meanings escaped Levi. Clearing his throat, a few of them looked up from their microscopes towards him. 

“I’m Special Agent Ackerman, this is Agent Jeager, we’re with the FBI and we’re here investigating the murder of Marco Bodt.” he announced, holding his badge out so it was visible to all the interns and staff present in the lab. 

 

“Marco? Murdered?” came a voice, a young blonde girl sitting on the edge of a stool, her right leg propped up on the metal cross bar, the other dangling, her toes lightly brushing the floor with the tip of her boots. 

 

“Did you know him?” Levi asked. 

 

“Yeah! I’m his intern!” she replied. 

 

“And what’s your name?” 

 

“Christa Renz,” she answered, sliding off her stool and walking towards the two detectives. “He’s not really dead is he?”

 

“I’m afraid so,” Levi answered, writing her name in his notebook. “How long were you his intern?”

 

“About six months now,” she answered. 

 

“And how well did you know him.”

 

“Well enough I guess. I knew he was brilliant. Never took on interns before this year. I knew he was gay, but then again, it wasn’t like he kept it secret.”

 

“What do you know about his boyfriend?” 

 

“Not much,” she admitted. 

 

“Oh?”

 

“Well he never visited. Marco was pretty private about his personal life, never really talked about it. His boyfriend never visited the lab. He would call on occasion.”

 

“Do you know his name?”

 

“John, I think?” 

“When he would call, how did Marco seem? Tense? Nervous? Upset? Angry?” 

 

“No! Never! When ever his boyfriend would call, Marco’s face would just light up. I never saw him smile that way.” 

 

“Alright. Do you know where we might find a Keith Shadis?” 

 

“Keith? Yeah. He’s just taking a break. He should be back any minute now.” 

No sooner were the words out of her mouth did the lab door open and a severe looking bald man walked into the lab. 

 

“Who the fuck are these chuckle heads?” he asked, glaring down at Levi. 

“Special Agent Ackerman.” Levi replied, bringing himself up to his full height, glaring up at Keith, and fingering his gun. Almost instantly, Keith shrunk away, his face softening slightly. 

 

“What can I do for you, Special Agent?” 

“I have a few questions to ask you about Marco Bodt,”

 

“Marco? Why?”

 

“He’s dead.” 

 

Even after years of experience, Levi could never really get over the look on a person’s face when you told them someone they knew was dead. The way their face just sagged. Their whole body sagged. It was like they let out a huge breath and forgot to inhale again. Everything was completely sapped from their face. 

 

“Dead?” he whispered. “Oh God. He was such a good kid,” Keith stumbled backwards, sitting on a stool to balance himself. 

 

“Any idea who might have done this to him?” Keith’s face had a sudden flash of realization, but he quickly hid it behind a mask of grieving. This guy had an idea of something that might have gotten Marco into trouble. He might be dismissing it because it seemed unlikely. If nothing else turned up in the investigation, Levi would readdress that moment of hesitation on Keith’s face. He still needed to keep and eye on this guy. He made a mental note to put tabs on him. In his peripheral vision, Levi saw Eren shift his weight from one foot to the other. He was obviously aware of the slight change in Keith’s facial expression too. Good. Maybe this kid wasn’t entirely useless. 

 

“None.” Keith answered, all of the grandiose illusion of tough guy completely evaporated, the sorrow splashed across his face. 

 

“How long has he been working under you?”

 

“Since he started with the company 5 years ago,”

“So it’s fair to say you knew him very well?”

 

“Yeah, he was a very private person. Never really talked about his personal life, but I was probably the person he was closest too within the company.”

 

“Did he ever confined in you?” 

 

“Not usually. Like I said, he was a very private person.”

 

“So he never told you about any trouble he was having. Finically, or otherwise?”

 

“No,”

 

“Have there been any issues with him at work?” 

 

“Never! He was a brilliant kid. Never missed a day. Always worked himself to the bone.”

 

“No complaints against him?”

 

“He got along with everyone,” 

 

“What about in the last few days? Anything weird happen? Did he seem off in any way?”

“Off? No…” 

 

Keith chewed the inside of his cheek for a second and then said, “Actually. The last few weeks he seemed really distracted and anxious. And, yesterday he just up and left.”

 

“What time?”

 

“Around noon? It wasn’t like him at all. He was usually here until after eight every night.”

 

“Any idea where he was headed?”

 

“No idea,” Keith shrugged. 

 

“Alright. We also have information suggesting he was seeing someone. Do you have a name?”

 

“Nope. I have no idea. Never had anyone come and visit. He never talked about it.”

 

“Alright. And any idea who ‘Connie’ might be?”

 

“Never heard the name before,” Keith answered, shaking his head thoughtfully. 

 

“Alright. Thanks for your cooperation. Don’t leave town. I might have more questions for you later.”

And with that, Levi left the lab with some new information to chew on. 

 

Who is Connie?

 

Why was he meeting him yesterday?

 

Why had Marco been so anxious the last few weeks?

And why was he so private about who he was seeing?

He pulled his cell phone out of it’s holster on his belt and checked the blank screen,Nothing yet. It was time to head back to headquarters and see what Hanji had pulled up on her autopsy. See if anything else would pop. 

“Sir?” Eren asked as they walked across campus, their collars turned up against the wind that was picking up. 

“Yes?” Levi growled. 

“Keith knew something and he wasn’t saying anything.”

“I know,” Levi answered, shrugging his shoulders, “if it was something that he thought was important he would have brought it up. In the mean time, I’m putting him on a no fly list and I’m going to trace his credit cards.”

 

“You think he might have done it?” Eren asked, in awe. 

 

“I’m not ruling him out. But, he’s definitely hiding something. Might as well cover my bases, right Brittany?”

 

“Why do you always call me girl names? My name is Eren!” 

 

“I’m aware of that. This is just more fun.” Levi admitted as he unlocked the police cruiser and pulled open the door, a sight grin tugged on the corners of his lips as he slid into the chair. 


	4. The Usual Suspects

“Tch…” Levi let out a hiss of air as he returned his attention to the white board in front of him, trying to figure out his next move. With still no word from Hanji, or the NYPD Detectives he didn’t have anything except what was on the white board in front of him. 

The other Agents called his white board “Levi’s Murder Board” because that’s exactly what it was. In the centre of the board, he had tapped up a picture of Marco’s body. Captioned underneath was the name: MARCO BODT with bullet points of information, including the COD and TOD and all the information he had gathered thus far. From that picture he had drawn a line in red dry erase marker towards a large question mark captioned: MISSING BOYFRIEND. JOHN? In the other direction he had drawn another line in the same red marker towards another question mark captioned CONNIE. Across the top of the board, he had tapped up pictures of evidence, including the syringes and the vials, the destruction of the crime scene, and the later addition of the used condom, each with their own notes underneath. Finally, spread across the bottom of the board was black tape with graduated bars, each precisely 10cm apart. In red he had highlighted a section of the graduated bar, the start captioned 2330 and the end captioned 0130 the red line was his “kill zone”. Further back on the bar he had a portion blocked off for the mysterious “Meeting with Connie” starting at 1300, but he also included the 1200 departure time from his job at NYU. 

“We need to fill in this portion here,” Levi muttered to himself, indicating the blank section of the time line. 

“Can we find out where he went in this time period here?” Eren asked, pointing at the box which encompassed most of the time line.

“What do you think I’m trying to do?” Levi snapped, his arms crossed over his chest. 

“Well, couldn’t we check his transit pass to see if he swiped it at all?” Eren pressed. 

“No, because his wallet wasn’t at the crime scene. I’ve got tech guys trying to see if they can find him in the system. Beisdes, that just tells us he got on the bus or train, doesn’t tell us where he got off.”

“Well, assuming he took the bus, and we find his card, couldn’t we make an educated guess based on the bus or train he was on?” 

“What do you mean?” Levi asked.

“Well…” Eren stood up, no longer leaning on the desk and walked away from the murder board towards the map pinned up on the far wall. Pulling a thumb tack out of the board, he relocated to NYU and traced a circle around the tack. “We know he left the lab around noon and that he was meeting with Connie at one, which means he was anticipating at least an hour of transit time. If we create a circle around NYU the outer limit of the circle being the furtherest you could travel from that location in an hour, we can at least narrow down the area we are searching for.”

It wasn’t a bad idea. Damnit. Levi picked up his cell phone and dialled a few numbers for the guys in tech. 

“Hey, it’s Levi.”

“Hey! What can I do for you?”

“Where are we on Marco Bodt’s transit pass?” 

“It’s a no go,” the tech guy on the other end replied. 

“What do you mean?”

“He’s not in the system. He doesn’t have a transit pass.”

“Damn,” he muttered, “Thanks.” It was a good lead, but unfortunately without a transit pass, it was just going to come up empty. Maybe something would pop in his financials. He hung up the phone and turned to Eren. “Alright, Newbie. Now we get to run his credit cards.”

Running financials was tedious work. He hated it. Whenever possible, Levi would dump it on one of the NYPD detectives, Although he had sent them to find family, leaving no one else at his disposal to run it for him. 

Levi printed off two copies of all of Marco’s credit card bills and debit transactions and any other bills he might have. He handed a stack and a high lighter to Eren.

“Get cracking,” and he sat down at his desk and poured over the sheets of paper. Line after line of small charges for coffee at the university, and lunch downtown. No charges for Bus or Train fair anywhere. Not even taxis. No gas either. He was starting to wonder how this guy got around the massive city without a trace of any form of transportation showing up until…

“Hey Levi,” Eren called over, “The first charge from a taxi wasn’t until…”

“The 12th…” Levi muttered, looking back up at his murder board. Under the calendar heading he had written a note. ‘J leaves: 12th’. “J. His boyfriend presumably left on the 12th. That means his boyfriend drove him to and from work. He had a car… He probably works nearby…” Levi jumped up and wrote under the BOYFRIEND heading ‘works close to NYU?’.

“I’ve got a charge here at 1238 for $33.55 ” Eren said, dragging the pink highlighter across the page. 

“Good. See if you can find out which Taxi picked him up. Talk to the driver and see if they remember where they dropped him off.” 

“On it, Sir,”

“Hey, Sarah…” Eren stopped and looked back at Levi. “Good catch.” Eren smiled and rushed to his computer and started typing on his key board. Levi hoovered over Eren’s shoulder as he worked. Running the transaction number through the system, he was able to quickly identify exactly which taxi had picked Marco up at 1214 outside NYU. Picking up his phone, he punched a 10-digit number in on the key pad and wait for it to ring. “You know, in all my time as an Agent, I’ve learnt that following you gut serves you better than that service piece ever will.”

“Hello, my name is Agent Eren Jaeger, I’m with the FBI. I’m calling because I need to find out where one of your taxi drivers dropped off one of his clients today.” He paused for a second, listening to the carter on the other end. Levi leaned over Eren, trying not to focus on his scent as he waited, breathless for the answer that might lead them to their killer. “Yes. The Taxi number is 2493, driver is Jurgen Elbridge. I’m looking for where he dropped off a fare he picked up at 1214 outside NYU.” More silence. Eren picked up a pen and scribbled down an address. 3954 Broadway. That was in Washington Heights, a neighbourhood known for it’s gang violence and drug trafficking. 

“What were you doing there?” Levi muttered. A number of scenarios ran through his head. Young chemical engineer who grew up in a testy neighbourhood, never quite left the life behind him. He gets in a tight financial spot, and decides that with his skills as an engineer he could develop some pretty damn good street drugs, and make a fair penny off them. Only something goes south. One of his dealers wont pay up, or another supplier wants to take over the area…

“You think he was into drugs or something?” Eren asked after hanging up the phone. 

“Or something…” Levi muttered. “Alright, Kathy, get your shit. We’re going on a field trip.”  Levi straightened up and snatched his jacket off the back of his chair. Eren trailed along at his heels all the way to the parking garage. 

…

They pulled up outside a small cafe in Washington Heights. Cafe X. It was grungy, like the rest of the neighbourhood. Levi parked the cruiser and together the two of them got out of the car.  
Pushing open the door to the cafe, Levi pulled out his badge and walked straight up to the counter.   
“Special Agent Ackerman. I’ve got a few questions for you,”   
The girl behind the counter just stared at Levi, with a half lidded expression, mimicking his own. She didn’t answer right away, just chewed on her gum and held Levi’s gaze.   
“What can I do for you, Special Agent?” she asked, her tone holding a hint of mockery and disgust. 

“I’m investigating a murder,”

“Ain’t got no murders here,” she answered, gesturing at the coffee shop around her. 

“I ain’t suggesting you do,” Levi whispered, the toxic mockery dripping in every syllable. He slid the picture of Marc across the counter to the girl. “You seen this guy?” 

“Can’t be sure,” she replied, glancing down at the picture for only a fraction of a second before diverting her gaze away from Levi and Eren. 

“Maybe this can entice your memory?” he slid a hundred dollar bill across the counter. Quickly she snatched it up. 

“Yeah, I seen him.”

“When?” 

“Yesterday, ‘round one”

“Was he here with anyone?”

“Maybe…” with a sigh, Levi slid another bill towards her “Yeah. He was here with Connie Springer.”

“Connie Springer?” 

“Yeah, Connie hooks up most of the kids in this part of town, if you get my drift?”

What was Marco doing meeting with a drug dealer?

"What did they talk about,"

"I dunno. They talked for about an hour. It got a little heated at one point. Connie got really upset and said he didn't owe your guy nuttin. Said if he didn't watch his back he was gonna end up dead, and he was prolly gonna be the one to do it, ya know?"

"Anything else?"

"Naw, Connie stormed out afta that..."

“Thanks,” Levi muttered, snatching up the head shot of Marco and indicated to Eren it was time to leave with a wave of his hand. 

As soon as they were back in the car, Levi pulled his phone from his belt, ignoring Eren’s quizzical glances and he punched a phone number

“Sup Levi,” it was Mike, another Special Agent that worked for Organized Crime Division. They’d collaborated on a number of cases. 

“I need you to pull everything you can on a Connie Springer,”

“This for that Bodt case?” Mike asked on the other end of the line?

Levi grunted in confirmation. 

“Saw some of the crime scene photos, that’s some pretty fucked up shit”

Levi grunted in confirmation again. Then added as a side note “New kid almost pissed himself”

Mike snickered and Levi heard the clacking of keys as Mike ran the search on Connie Springer. 

“This kid just got out of lock up, he’s on parole for good behaviour” Mike told Levi as he read through the file. 

“When?” 

“Last week,” Mike replied. 

“Can you cross reference his file with Marco Bodt?”

“Already on it,” there was a brief pause then, “Says here that Marco testified against Connie last time he was brought in. “Turns out their foster brothers.” 

“Foster brothers?” Levi asked, making sure he’d heard the correctly.

“Yeah, they grew up together with the same family in Washington Heights. Marco eventually got out on a scholarship to NYU. Connie hung around. I’ve got him booked for a couple of possession charges. A couple of aggravated assault charges. My bet is he figured he’d pay back his dear foster brother for the betrayal he dealt him,”

“You might be right…”Levi paused, mulling over the information Mike had just given him. “Can you bring him in?”

“Yeah, I’ve got his address…I’ll send it to you ASAP. Want me to call in the warrant on him?”

“Please do. The newbie and I will meet you at the address.”

“Got it!” 

Hanging up the phone, he passed it to Eren. 

“Natalie, when Mike texts the location on Connie, let me know.” Eren nodded, holding the phone delicately like an egg, afraid he might drop it. 

…

They parked outside a run down apartment building on the edge of grungy street. Half a dozen unis milled about the side walk, strapping on their kevlar vests and checking the magazines of their service weapons. Mike and Nanaba stood next to Levi, rattling off what information they had gathered about Connie since last they’d spoken.

“He was last booked for possession with the intent to distribute in 2015. His arresting officer was a Jean Kirstein. I’ve got got some guys back at the precinct running the file to see if anything pops. He was sentence to 5-10 with parole. Got out last week.”

“Alright, let’s get him,” Levi growled, casually sliding a second fire arm behind his belt att he back of his pants. “Ready, Newbie?” He turned his attention to Eren who wore a grim, yet determined expression on his young face. He nodded slightly, his rigid posture not allowing for much movement. “Just relax, Kid. Stay close behind me. Don’t get twitchy with the trigger. Don’t do anything brave or heroic. That’ll only get you killed with a guy like Connie.”

Eren nodded again, this time a little more relaxed.

“Yes, Sir,” 

“Let’s go,” 

He indicated to the three unis who were coming in with them to move out, and the group moved towards the building. they climbed three flights of stairs, and rushed down the hall to the room numbered 306. With his back pressed to the same wall as the door, his gun cocked and ready, Levi knocked on the door.  
“Connie Springer? FBI. Please open the door!” 

There was silence for a moment. 

“Connie? We have a warrant!”   
Still nothing. Levi turned his gaze to Mike who nodded, and in one motion, kicked in the door of the apartment. 

With Mike and “Nanaba in the lead, the team made their way into the apartment. With their guns held out in front of them, ready to shoot at a moments notice, the team quickly and efficiently did a sweep of the place, voices calling out “Kitchen, clear!” or “Hall Closet, clear!” as different members assessed no one was in the respective room of the house. 

“Connie Springer! stand up and put your hands in the air,” came a nervous shout from the bedroom. Eren. When had he slipped away? Why hadn’t Levi noticed the he was no longer standing right behind him? Levi stumbled through the hallway to his right which lead toward the bed room. Pushing open the door, Levi barrelled into the room. Eren was standing in front of the bed, his legs shoulder width apart, his gun held at eye level, firmly grasped between two hands, aimed directly at the man sitting on the edge of the bed in his boxers and a gun aimed directly back at Eren grasped in his hands. Connie Springer. Connie just smirked at Eren, obviously completely aware of how green the young detective was. Levi watched as Connie tested his grip on the gun. Levi felt himself go cold. He felt like all the air had been knocked out of his lungs. This was too familiar. He forced himself to drag in a breath and lifted his gun, aiming it at Connie’s shoulder. 

“Connie Springer, stand down!” he shouted. 

“Looks like you brought in the big guns,” Connie remarked, lowering his gun and placing it on the bed beside him. He stood up offering his hands to Levi. “Although, I’m not sure what this is about.”

Lowering his own gun, Levi moved across the distance towards Connie, unhooking his hand cuffs from his belt.

“Connie Springer, you are under arrest for the murder of Marco Bodt. You have the right to remain silent…”

“Marco? Did you say Marco?”

“Shut up,” Levi growled, turning Connie back around to face him. 

“You’ve made a mistake! I didn’t kill Marco!” 

“Someone get him out of my sight!” Levi shouted. One of the uniforms came around the corner and took Connie away from Levi, pushing him out of the door. “Get CSU down here to sweep the place, see if they can find anything else that links Connie to Marco’s death.”  
“Yes, Sir,” one of the other agents answered, pulling out his phone as Levi spoke, already dialling for the crime scene team to come and bag evidence. Levi then turned on Eren, furious. 

“Come,” Levi said through gritted teeth. Eren followed Levi back out of the apartment building. Once on the street Levi glared at Eren. “What the fuck did I say?”

“What?”

“I said…what the fuck did I say?” Levi was almost whispering through his gritted teeth. 

“Stay behind you, don’t get in the way,” Eren shrunk away from Levi. 

“What part of that is so fucking hard to understand?” Levi asked. 

“Sir?”

“Do you realize you could have been shot?”

“Yes, Sir… I just… I was following my gut.”

Levi was taken aback by the comment, remembering what he had said earlier to Eren about following your gut in this profession. Smiling slightly, Levi slid into the drivers seat of his cruiser. 

“Get in, Newbie. You ready for your first interrogation?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I update so sporadically. School usually gets in the way of writing, and not to mention the flu I've been fighting off all week -_- anyways... hope you enjoy the chapter! Please feel free to comment! I love reading your comments!


	5. Rules of Engagement

“Hello, Mr. Springer,” Levi said, sitting down at the table in the interrogation room across from Connie Springer. He’d seen many faces across this table. Mostly murderers. The occasional greedy spouse, or baffled room mate, even a deranged drug dealer or two. In the end most of them turned out to be a murderer. Most cases were open and shut text book cases.

 

Many of his interviewees vehemently proclaimed their innocents with any number of tactic they could conjure. Some sat quietly, awaiting their turn to face judgement. Other sat more quietly still, never open their mouth to say so much as their name. 

Connie wasn’t at all what Levi expected. He was about Levi’s height, a bit taller. His hair shaved off exposing his scalp through the grey stubble which had started pushing through. Amber eyes centre in his round face avoiding holding on to anything for too long. Both his arms were painted with ink, tattoos he’d either acquired on the streets or in prison. 

 

“My name is Special Agent Ackerman, this is Agent Jaeger. We’re going to ask you a few questions.”

 

“Is Marco really dead?” Connie blurted out. 

 

“That’s not how this process works,” Levi replied. “I ask the questions. You answer them. Do I make myself clear?”

 

“Yes,” Connie answered, lowering his gaze to his hands clasped together on the table in front of him. 

 

“Good, now. Tell me. How long have you known Marco Bodt?” 

 

“I’ve known Marco since we were 14. We were both taken in by the same foster family.” Connie answered, his voice shaking. On the edge of tears. 

 

“Would you say the two of you were close?”

 

“Not really. At least not since he got that scholarship for NYU.”

 

“You must be really bitter with him for testifying against you in 2015,”

Connie shurgged. 

 

“It’s water under the bridge, Agent.” 

 

“When was the last time you saw Marco?”

 

“Probably that trial,” Connie answered.

 

“Now, you’re not playing the game properly. See, you need to be honest with me, and I know you’re not being honest with me.” Levi slid a picture of the calendar in Marco’s phone towards Connie. “See what that says?” Connie nodded. “Now, I’m going to ask again. When was the last time you saw Marco?” 

 

“Yesterday, around one,” 

 

“Better,” Levi growled. “What did you guys talk about?”

 

“Not a lot. Just catching up.”

 

“Why don’t I believe you?” Connie shrugged. “Oh that’s right. We talked to the barista at the coffee shop where you guys met and you know what she said?” Connie shrugged again. “That you guys fought and you told Marco you were going to kill him.”

 

“That was… purely contextual.”

 

“You need to stop lying to me, Connie. The more you cooperate with me here, the better deal I can cut with the DA. You’re on parole and the last I checked, murder is a violation of that parole. Not to mention the drugs my boys found back at your apartment. And this… unregistered  firearm.”

 

“Murder?” Connie spluttered, “I already told you I didn’t do it!” 

 

“Then why don’t you tell me the truth about what Marco was meeting with you about yesterday?”

 

“I…” 

 

“Connie!”

 

“Marco called me a week ago,” Connie blurted out, his eyes brimming with tears. Levi tried not to muse about how this was the first time he’d ever seen a prison hardened drug dealer cry. “Said he needed to talk to me about some stuff. Said he wanted to buy a gun from me.”

 

“Why?”

 

“I didn’t ask. I just brought him the gun.”

 

“You guys talked for an hour! What did you talk about?”

 

“He told me was afraid someone was out to get him. He wouldn’t say why. He just said that he wouldn’t be the first to go because of this. That it was way bigger than anything I could imagine.”

 

“And you have no idea what had him so spooked?”

“No! Listen, there might have been a bit of bad blood between us after he testified against me. But we got over it. Marco was supposed to be the one that got out of this life. Do you know how many foster kids from neighbourhoods like ours actually make good for themselves? We were proud to see Marco doing so well.”

 

“Then why’d you guys fight?”

 

“I didn’t believe him. I didn’t believe he was in danger. I didn't want to give him the gun. I told him if he started packing people were going start making the wrong assumptions. Chemical engineer who grew up in a bad neighbourhood? If that doesn’t scream drugs…” Connie fell silent again. “I told him if he didn’t watch his back he was going to end up dead.” With that Connie started sobbing. “Marco… what did you get caught up in?”

 

Good question, Levi thought to himself as he watched Eren pass Connie a box of tissues. He leaned back in his chair, defeated. 

 

“One last question,” Levi said, though he figured it was probably moot at this point, 

 

“where were you between 11:30 last night and 1:30 this morning?”

 

“Um… I was at the bar down the street from my place until 12ish, then I took this hot little red head number home. She stayed the night.”

 

“Were going to have to verify that, you'll give her name to Agent Jaeger when we are done here,” Levi replied, completely defeated. There went a perfectly good lead out the window. He excused himself from the table and let himself out of the interrogation room. He propped himself up in front of his murder board and jotted down a few notes he had gleaned from the interview with Connie. None of it was enough. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Mike’s rushing towards him with a piece of paper clutched in his hands. 

 

“This better be good news,” he grumbled.

 

“Actually, it’s great news! I was going through Connie’s arrest files…”

 

“Connie’s not our guy…”

 

“I know, but this might interest you, I was going through his files and I noticed that there was a common arresting officer with almost all of his arrests. One Detective Jean Kirstein.”

 

“Alright… so what?” 

 

“Well, one of the files had a picture of Detective Jean Kirstein. Look familiar?” He held up the picture and sure enough, the face in the picture was familiar. He snatched the picture from Mike’s hand and attached it to the murder board next to the picture of Marco and his boyfriend. 

 

“Jean…” Levi whispered. “I’ve found you.”

 

“Anyways. I was looking into Jean, and it turn out Jean is out of town until tomorrow. Only, I checked, he came back last night. Flew in from LA.” 

 

“So, where is he?”

 

“We still don’t know. We got in contact with the 6th precinct where he works Narcotics…”

 

“Wait… Narcotics?” 

 

“Yeah… is everything alright?”

 

“Maybe… sorry what else did you dig up?”

 

“Not a whole lot, just that we’ve put out an APB with this picture, and the 6th will let us know if he shows up there at all.”

 

“Have you pulled up any family on him?”

  
“Actually, that’s where he was. In LA visiting his father. His Mother died of Breast Cancer in 2002. From what we understand, his relationship with his father was rather testy since her death. In 2005 he moved out here, put himself through the academy. He’s been working Narcs for the last 5 years at the 6th.”

 

“Anything else?”

 

“Naw… that’s it we can dig up on him.”

 

“Thanks,” 

 

Turning on his heel, Mike left Levi with the murder board and a dry erase marker, frantically inserting the new information they had just dug up on the board. This opened a whole other line of investigation. What was a narcotics cop doing with a guy with ties to the drug trade in New York. Was it an under cover operation that went south and Jean had bailed when he got made? Or was it something else? He wasn’t really aware of how much time passed as he fathomed multiple possibilities. 

 

He sent the file to the NYPD Detective Riko so that she could get some uni’s on the case.

 

“Um… sir?” a small voice came from behind him. Levi turned around to see Eren standing behind him. The sun had set behind the horizon, leaving the precinct in relative darkness. It was probably well after 7pm. “I took Connie to holding. We’ll only be able to hold him until tomorrow…”

“Alright… good…” Levi said off-handedly. 

 

“You IDed him?” Eren asked, pointing to the board. 

 

“Yup. Now we just have to find him…”

 

“Where would you like me to start?

 

“I think you should go home. It’s been a long day,” Levi sighed, standing up.

 

“But… sir!” 

 

“Newbie, you’ll learn pretty quick that you need to learn when to call it a day. And right now, you need to call it a day. It’s been a long day. Get drunk. Get Laid. I don't care. Just get out of here.” 

 

“But…”

 

“Listen, Newbie. I’m not going to tell you what to do. There isn’t much to do until we find Jean Kirstein. If you want to stay, feel free.” He walked away from the murder board taking his own advice. Mulling over stale facts wasn’t going to solve this case any faster. He click off the lamp on his desk, and wandered down the hallway, leaving Eren standing in complete darkness in front of the board. He tried to shake the sudden rush of protectiveness and interest that had been steadily rising in his chest through out the day. He may not have wanted a partner, but this kid had interested him in ways that so few did. He wasn’t about to say it out loud, but he thought the kid had potential. 

As he passed by Erwin’s office, he noticed light seeping out from beneath the gap between the floor boards of the precinct and the door. Erwin was usually the last one out of the precinct at night, staying late to finish up paper work. Without really pausing to think about what he was doing, he rapped his knuckles against the door. 

 

“Yes?”

 

Levi pushed open the door, vaguely aware that Eren was currently gathering up his leather jacket, draping it over his muscular forearm. 

 

“Keep your phone on. I’ll call you if anything comes up.” he called over his shoulder, then directed his attention to the inside of the office. 

 

“Levi…” Erwin said softly as he slipped into the office. 

 

“Erwin,” Levi replied, not really making eye contact with his Captain. 

 

“How’s the new partner.”

 

“I’m fine without a partner,” Levi grumbled. 

“I know you are, but I think both of you will benefit from this,” 

 

“That’s a load of bullshit. I haven’t taken on a partner since Petra for a reason, you son of a bitch. History has a habit of repeating itself, and it almost fucking did today.”

 

“You’re already attached, I see?”

 

“I’m not fucking attached,” Levi shouted, “I just don’t want to see some green kid dead on the side of the road because of me!” He clenched his fist, trying to force down the emotions that were bubbling in his chest. Erwin pushed his chair away from his desk and stood up, straightening out to his full height. Compared to Erwin, Levi miniscule. Erwin was so much taller than Levi that he often had to crane his neck in order to look into those even blue eyes. 

 

“I have faith in that kid, and you. I don’t understand why you’ve got such little faith in yourself.” He whispered, closing the gap between them with a few strides of his impossibly long legs. He pulled Levi closer to his body, folding him in with his muscular arms. Levi rested his head against the tonnes chest, listening to the soft lib-dub of his heart in his chest, and measuring each breath that Erwin took in. He closed his fists on the fabric of Erwin’s soft cotton shirt. Erwin pushed Levi away to look in his eyes. 

“You’re the best I ever trained, Levi.”

  
“Ha…” Levi responded quietly. “you hardly trained me.”

 

“True. You’re the most naturally gifted Agent I’ve got here.” He leaned down and pressed his soft lips to Levi’s. 

 

It wasn’t like it was a secret in the precinct. Everyone knew that Special Agent Erwin was fucking Special Agent Levi on the side. His wife of 15 years wasn’t aware of the relationship, or that it had been steadily growing over the last 6 years. Ever since Erwin had gotten Levi his job at the 12th precinct. 

 

Levi returned the kiss, rocking forward onto his toes to press himself deeper into the kiss, his lips moving furiously against Erwin’s. He felt Erwin’s hand slide up from it’s position on the small of his back up to the nape of his neck, where he entwined his fingers in Levi’s hair. The sensation of Erwin’s skin against his own, even if it was just the brushing of his fingers against the back of his neck made Levi moan slightly into Erwin’s kisses. 

 

Levi found his hands tugging at the back of Erwin’s shirt from his belt. His hands hungrily   ran across the now exposed skin of Erwin’s back; the skin there smooth like Levi remembered save for the scars obtained from years of service, each one, Levi had memorized it’s location. Erwin’s own hands clumsily unbuttoned the front of Levi’s shirt. 

Six years had done nothing to stave off the passion their stolen moments ignited. the urgency of their kisses, the brushing of their fingers across the others skin, the heat rising in their bodies, the hard erections rubbing against each other. Levi pressed his hands into Erwin’s now bare chest, the shirt that he had been wearing earlier lay unceremoniously on the floor, ripped off by Levi’s eager hands. He forced Erwin towards the desk, his fingers fumbling with the belt buckle preventing him direct access to the hard cock that was pressing up against the fabric inside Erwin’s trousers.

Once he got the buckle free, he pulled down the trousers, exposing Erwin’s white briefs. 

 

“Briefs today, huh?” he asked, his fingers reaching for the elastic waist band of the briefs. He slid his fingers under it, letting his touch ignite the electrical current which passed between them at every touch. Erwin threw back his head, moaning with the satisfaction of Levi’s touch. Grinning to himself, and sufficiently pleased with the reaction his actions had elicited, he pulled down the briefs, exposing Erwin’s penis. 

Levi had tried, for six years to find a way to describe Erwin’s cock. He was unable to come up with any words other the huge and gorgeous. Big ass dick that I want to wrap my lips around was a close second. So, he spared not a moment in getting down on his knees and bringing that big, beautiful cock to his lips. He wrapped his lips around it. He let his tongue drag across the bottom of Erwin’s cock in the way he knew drove him crazy. Relaxing his throat, he let it slide down as far it would go. Erwin let of soft moans and grunts, wrapping his fingers in Levi’s hair. Every now and again he would buck his hips, forcing his dick a little further than down Levi’s throat than he expected, causing him to gag ever so slightly. 

 

Working his fingers up and behind Erwin’s bare, muscular thighs, he eventually found his hands on Erwin’s ass. His fingers probed at Erwin’s hole. He felt the muscles contract slightly at his touch.

 

“nngh… Lube’s in the desk… let me get it…” Erwin said through panting breaths.

Levi let his tongue flick over the head of Erwin’s penis a few times as punishment for not being prepared for him. That was all it took to push Erwin over the edge. He threw back his head and let out a gasp, his dick twitching in Levi’s mouth, letting off a jet of warm, bitter liquid which trickled down Levi’s throat. He swallowed. 

 

“You’re getting rusty, old man,” Levi gasped, wiping his jaw on the back of his hand. 

“You’ve been neglecting me, Levi,” Erwin answered, “Else it wouldn’t be so easy to get me off.” He smiled down at Levi, wrapping his arms around him and pressing his lips to Levi’s. “Now let me return the favour…”

 

At that moment he heard his phone ring. 

 

“Fuck,” he growled into Erwin’s chest, feeling his erection fade slightly at the sound of the ringing phone. He pulled it out of the holster on his belt and glanced down at the screen. Detective Riko There was only one thing that Riko would be calling him about this late. The case. “I have to take this,” Levi grumbled, and pressed the answer button on the touch screen. “This is Levi.”

 

“We found him!” Riko said excitedly on the other end. 

 

“Found who?”

 

“Jean Kirsten!” 

 

“What?”

 

“Meet us at Sinna General Hospital, I’ll explain everything there.”

 

“On my way,” he hung up the phone. 

 

“What’s up.”

 

“Found a person of interest in our case,” Levi repiled, searching through his contacts for Eren’s number. He found it and clicked the call link. 

 

“Ohh?”

 

“We’ll have to finish this some other time.” Levi replied apologetically, his erection all but completely faded at the sudden rush of sobriety that had washed over him with the news of the development. He pressed the phone to his ear and listened to it ring once. twice. 

 

“Hello?” It was Eren. He sounded exhausted, but like he had probably only just gotten home. Levi checked his watch, realizing it was quarter after nine. 

 

“Hey, Amanda, it’s Levi,”

 

“I probably could have guessed by the way you addressed me,” Eren replied, exasperated. 

 

“We don’t have time for your quips, the boys found Jean. If you want to come question him with me, I would get my ass down to Sinna General Hospital ASAP.”

 

“Yes, Sir! I’ll see you there!” 

 

He pulled his shirt back on, smoothing it out carefully and ensuring that there were no stains or smudges visible from their moment of passion. 

 

“You’re really leaving, just like that?” Erwin asked. 

 

“Duty calls, sir,”

 

“This must be a good case.”

 

“It’s interesting to say the least,” Levi replied, and left the room. He honestly couldn’t remember the last time he had walked out on one of his sessions with Erwin. It had probably never happened. Part of him wondered what was chaining within him. The rest of him didn’t care. 


	6. Lost in Memories

Chapter Six - Lost in Memories

 

Twenty minutes later, Levi pulled his cruiser into a parking spot on the top level of the parking garage outside Sinna General Hospital. He pulled up the park break on the car and sat in the complete darkness for a moment. Sucking in a breath of air, he tried to force the taste of Erwin out of his mind and instead focused on the reality of the situation. 

 

When he got out of this car, he could very well be facing the biggest break in this case so far. What happened when he got out of this car would determine if he categorized this case as mundane and boring or thrilling. What happened after he got out of this car would make all the difference. 

 

Sliding out of the driver’s seat of the car, he took a deep breath of the cold January night air, letting it burn his lungs. He could feel the sting of the cold on his cheeks and pulled his scarf up over his nose to fend it off. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he made his way to the front entrance of the hospital. 

 

Waiting eagerly by the door was Eren, his jacket hastily thrown on over a baggy hoodie emblazoned with an FBI hoodie He hopped from foot to foot trying to keep himself warm in the bitter cold. 

 

“Why are you waiting out here, Newbie?” Levi asked, his voice muffled through the scarf wrapped around his mouth. Eren opened and closed his mouth a few times, forcibly reminding Levi of a fish. “Forget it. You seen any NYPD?”

 

“No, Sir,” Eren replied. “I just arrived as well.”

 

“Is that your excuse for waiting out in this damn cold?”

 

“Yes, Sir,” 

 

“Go inside,” Levi ordered, gesturing to the sliding doors. Eren nodded and entered the hospital. Inside, it was warm. Immediately Levi start peeling off the layers he had piled on before getting into his cruiser. The scent of alcohol rubs, and illness filled Levi’s nose, mingling with the scent wafting from the coffee stand to their left. Moans and coughs of the ill waiting at admitting was the only sound to be heard. 

In front of him, Eren walked eagerly towards the elevators, his phone clutched in his hands with the unit and room number in a message from Erd on the screen. Levi caught the corners of his mouth turning up as he watched the enthusiasm in Eren's step carry him away. Something about this kid had taken hold of his attention and refusing to let it go.

 

Levi stood quietly beside Eren in front of the elevators after he had punched the up button admiring his strong stance. So far that day, Levi couldn't say he had really taken a chance to step back and look at Eren. He had been too furious with Erwin's decision to want to invest in it. Now, however, he inadvertently found himself sizing up the boy. The way his mess of dark brown hair hung in his eager, bright green eyes. The way he towered over Levi's five feet and four inches. The muscles of his chest which clung to the beige shirt he wore under his leather jacket. His large hands clasped together I front of his crotch, preventing them from fiddling impatiently with the zipper on his jacket. 

Suddenly, Levi found it all very endearing. He found it all very attractive. Shaking his head slightly, he attested the sudden attraction to the half-hearted boner still pressing up against the front of his trousers, not yet completely dissipated from the impromptu intimacy he had shared with Erwin in the office only half and hour earlier. 

The door of the elevator slid open and Eren stepped on, pushing the button for the fifth floor. Levi took a deep breath and stepped into the small elevator quickly. He hadn't even turned around to face the door, and it was already sliding shut again, locking him in without one last glance at the world beyond this tight space. Not releasing the breath he held in his lung, Levi watched the digital dial count up to five. He tried to focus on that instead of the way the walls were bearing down on him. Three. Four. Five. The doors opened again. And he released his breath, taking a long stride so as to get out of the small space faster. 

 

"Where now?" He asked, looking at the sign in front of him.

 

"Unit 57" Eren answered pointing to his left. 

 

Unit 57. That didn't sound promising. Unit 57 was well known as the psychiatric unit. He'd been expecting his missing cop to be in ICU or CCU. Not a psych unit. Quickly, Levi ran through the information he could recall from Jean's personnel file. Nothing about psych disorders had popped there. Not even a family history. 

 

With a frown, he followed Eren through the double doors, noting the yellow sign which stated "Please keep these doors closed, wandering patients on Unit". The unit was brightly lit, the hallways lined with computer stations. A number of nurses and student nurses bussed around with medications and sterile kits. Screams echoed from a room directly in front of the nursing station. Levi walked up to the desk and slid his badge across towards a young woman typing away on a key board. 

"My name is Special Agent Levi Ackerman. I'm here to see Mr. Kirstein." The woman, obviously the charge nurse, smiled at him then typed a few things on her computer before saying:

 

"He's in bed 3-2. The other detectives are already there." She pointed back towards the door where a hall split off from the main corridor. Levi nodded and walked in the direction she indicated. The echoing screeches of "I need to go to the bathroom!" faded slightly as he rounded the corner. Room three wasn't hard to find, nor was Jean Kirstein, who sat in his bed with the head propped up. Riko and Hannes stood around the bed with their note pads open. The first thing Levi noticed about Jean was that he was very good looking. Much more attractive than his pictures had lead him on to bed. A tuft of silvery blonde hair sat on top of his head. The sides of his head had been shaved, exposing the dark root of his scruff hair. A chiseled jaw bone. He was muscular. He looked like he had seen hard days, but a certain gentleness still hung around him, visible only to those who we're looking for it. The only words Levi could find for this man was ruggedly handsome. 

 

"Good evening Mr. Kirstein, you're not an easy man to find you know!" Levi said, not returning Gunter's greeting but instead just getting directly to the point. Jean just started at Levi blankly. 

 

"You're going to have to excuse him," a young nurse said, peering around the curtains from the next bed over, "he has lost most of his memories." 

...

Cursing himself for wishing the case would be more interesting, Levi stared at the linoleum floor of the hospital in disbelief. His number one witness and potential suspect had no memories. Levi, and Eren, sat in the lounge on the other end of the unit going over what information the boys had already gathered while a nurse sat in to supplement any information she could in order to clarify the situation as much as possible. 

"You have three different kinds of memory," a Doctor explained. "Semantic, procedural, and episodic memory. It appears that only his episodic memory has been effected at this time. Basically that means he remembers all of his motor functions and things like how to talk. But all of his personal life memories are gone. He has no idea who he is, where he came from or how he got here. ER admit record says that he was brought in by a young couple, wearing only a pair of boxers.

 

“The couple who brought him in says he ran on to the train at the Lexington and 63rd street station. It appeared someone was chasing him. When the train rolled away, our guy just collapsed and hit his head pretty hard on the way down." 

 

“Did the ER get the couple’s number?”

 

“No, they refused to get involved beyond bringing him to the hospital. They say they were just here on vacation. Probably visiting from Canada.” 

 

"Fuck," Levi muttered "So what now?" 

 

"We want to send him home, unfortunately we can't since his home has turned into a crime scene." 

 

"You don't have anywhere to send him at all?”

 

"No, we’re debating discharging him to a shelter, but a lot of the nurses have ethical issues with that. However, they are desperate for his bed and he doesn’t appear to be able to pay the costs of staying here,”

 

"We'll figure something out later. We need to keep a close eye on him just in case some of his memory comes back. We can't afford to loose him now that we've got him."

 

"Um... Sir?" Eren spoke up.

 

"What is it, Newbie?" Levi snapped. Eren flinched slightly, almost as if he expected Levi to lash out and hit him.

 

"Actually, Sir. I might have a solution. My sister is out of town, so I have a spare bed at my place. And my room mate is a psychiatrist. He might be able to help." 

 

Levi stared blankly at Eren, trying to decide if it was a good idea or not, or if it was even legal”

 

"He's FBI?" The nurse sitting with them asked.

 

"Yeah," Levi answered as Eren pulled out his badge to show the nurse. 

 

"Technically, since he'd be going into FBI custody, it wouldn't be a problem. And we are very desperate for the bed."

 

"You're sure you're up to the task, Newbie?" Levi asked, glancing at Eren. Eren bobbled his head in affirmation.

 

"Yes, Sir. Like I said, Armin is a psychiatrist, if anything went really awry, I would have him to help me. And this way we can keep a close eye on him until the end of the investigation."

 

"What about while you are at work?" Levi asked.

 

"Armin has the week off, he'll be home."

 

"is he going to be alright with that?"

 

"Sir, I know I can do this! Please!" Eren stood up so suddenly, grasping the collar of Levi's shirt and dragging Levi towards Eren's face. His eyes were wide and passionate. A flame burned deep within them, expressing his desire to prove himself to his partner.

 

"Alright, just let me go." Levi growled, feeling his boner slowly growing again at the proximity of Eren's lips and his sweet breath. The enthusiasm was unlike anything he'd ever seen from Erwin and it made him curious to see what the kid would be like to kiss. To fuck. Eren's scent wafted off his skin and clouded Levi's mind. He wanted to close that gap between them just to test Eren's lips.

 

Eren released him and as suddenly as the lust had washed over him, it dissipated. It was like a wave hitting the beach then receding. Beside him, Eren was grinning in triumph. 

 

"Let me get the discharge paper work ready," the nurse announced, and left the room quickly. 

 

"I should probably go introduce myself," Eren announced, squaring his shoulders as he prepared himself to leave the lounge where they had been talking. 

 

"Hang on a minute, Newbie. I'm coming with you." 

 

"Of course, Sir," Eren replied and the two of them left for Jean's room.

...

 

It took the better part of the hour to get all of the paper work sorted out for Jean's discharge from Sinna General Hospital. The nurse frantically rushed around making calls for medications and sorting out care plans with Eren. Levi had sent Erd and Gunter home, expressing his desire for them to get a good night sleep, tomorrow they would have to work twice as hard to figure out where to go from here. Another lead had lead to a dead end and every passing hour left the trail colder than before. Levi sat in a chair outside the nursing station trying his best to stay out of the way. Eren sat down beside him, his cell phone pressed to his ear.

 

"Hey, Armin." He said into the phone after a few seconds of waiting. Eren listened to his room mate for a second before replying. "I'm actually bringing someone over to stay tonight... No not like that... You're such an ass! No listen, he's a witness in the case I'm working on right now. He doesn't have any where else to go. I really think he can benefit from staying with you. No I'm not pawning off your MD for free!" Eren laughed. It was soft and somewhat musical. The kind of sound Levi could listen to forever. There was little room for laughter in his life. Growing up on the streets in the slum of New York hadn't really taught Levi any joy, and spending each day reminding himself of the atrocities which occurred in this city didn't help much either. Yet Eren laughed so easily, almost as if it were as natural as breathing. Part of Levi hoped that the kid never lost that sense of wonder and joy after working this job for too long. It had a tendency to suck the life out of everything. So for him, a man that had no life or joy to return to, it was a perfect fit. Eren said good bye to his room mate and hung up the phone. 

 

"Just waiting for Jean to put on some real clothes and then we'll get out of here," Eren explained to Levi.

 

"Good," Levi grunted, running his hands over his face. The smell of disinfectant didn't bother him in the least. In fact it was a scent he welcomed. It was the smell of decay which lingered in the air that was making him nauseated. It was a smell that reminded him of where he came from. The smell of those who had nothing. No hope. Not even a glimmer at the end of a tunnel.

 

Jean appeared before them wearing a pair of precinct sweats that Eren had had in his car and an over sized t-shirt with the Rangers logo emblazoned across the chest, also one of Eren's. 

"Hockey fan?" Levi asked, pointing at the shirt, one eyebrow raised quizzically. Eren nodded, blushing slightly.

 

"I used to play as a kid. I stopped when I joined the academy. Never stopped loving the sport though."

 

"Guess that explains your fine ass," Levi replied and walked away leaving Eren and Jean standing dumbstruck. "You guys coming?" He asked over his shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the late update! Hope people are still hanging around! such is the life of a nursing student D:


End file.
